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157 posts categorized "Grindr"

DIGIDAY - Aug 16 - This week, gay hookup app Grindr launched a digital magazine called Into, which had been in pilot mode since March. Grindr hopes its new publishing arm can win over big brands that are otherwise pretty nervous about their ads appearing next to sexual content. Grindr hired seven full-time editorial people to create content for Into. Former Out magazine editor Zach Stafford is the new website's editor-in-chief. The content aims to attract millennials, the elusive demographic that advertisers are most thirsty to reach. Among Grindr's users in the U.S., 64% are under 34.

THE SUN - Aug 11 - A Sun Online investigation has probed crime data from police forces across the country. Among the most popular apps, POF accounted for 56% of all crimes reported. Tinder accounted for 26% of crime, Grindr 10% and Match.com 7%.

PINK NEWS - July 15 - Previously, only premium users could receive push notifications when another user messaged them. Now all users in the UK will get push notifications automatically, rather than just paid-for Grindr accounts. Users in most of Europe and the US have already been able to access this function regardless of whether they pay for the service. Grindr has been running since 2009, with millions of using the app around the world. The app recorded ~10M downloads in 192 countries last year and 5M monthly active users.

USA TODAY - July 11 - Syphilis is on the rise and public health experts think it can be attributed at least partly to social media. Infection rates are the highest they have been in 20 years, said David Harvey, the executive director of the National Coalition of STD Directors. From 2014 to 2015 alone, the number of syphilis cases reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) rose by 17.7%, from 63K to 75K. It is important for dating apps to promote STD awareness and prevention, says Philip Chan, the director of the HIV/STD Testing and Prevention Services at the Miriam Hospital Immunology Center in Rhode Island. Tinder has a "Safety Tips" section under the app's "Settings" that discusses protection measures. Gay dating apps in particular are starting to do more of this, he said. Grindr has a "Sexual Health" section on each user's profile where the user can list HIV status and the last time they were tested. Manhunt partners with Manhunt Cares, an organization that provides health resources for its users and the LGBTQ community at large.

MASHABLE - July 10 - A new campaign called "Real Conversations of Grindr," put together by the HIV Foundation Queensland in Australia, got people to read real-life exchanges on Grindr. It starts off with the usual titillating fare, but then descends into discrimination and hatred. "You should be ashamed, you're a walking disease," reads one comment. "For people living with HIV, the stigma can often be more damaging than the virus."

BETABLOG - July 7 - Building Healthy Online Communities (BHOC), a coalition of SF AIDS Foundation and other leading HIV and sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevention organizations, recently launched a new website with the goal of improving the health and experience of gay men on hookup apps like Grindr, Scruff, Adam4Adam, Growlr and Daddyhunt. The site offers HIV and STI educators tips and information on how to reach app users with good sexual health information. The BHOC team recently partnered with the dating site Daddyhunt to produce a series of web videos and public service announcements featuring storylines about PrEP, STIs and HIV treatment. The series won "Best LGBTQ Film" at the Top Shorts Online Film Festival 2017.

ASSOCIATED PRESS - June 30 - Grindr wants a judge to dismiss the claims of a New York man who says he's been accosted at home and work by ~1k sex-hungry men after an ex-boyfriend posted fake profiles soliciting men interested in exploring violent fantasies. Herrick sued Grindr earlier this year in Manhattan federal court, saying he couldn't stop a steady stream of unwelcome visitors despite ~100 complaints. He seeks unspecified damages. Grindr said it can't be blamed and lawsuit must be dismissed because Herrick's lawyers "cannot identify any cases in which a court found that a website owed a duty to protect a plaintiff from third-party content. This is unsurprising, given Congress' explicit instruction in the CDA that no such duty exists."

VICE.COM - June 7 - It only takes a quick scroll through gay dating apps to see guys who express dismay with them; statements like "no hookups," and "no unsolicited nudes" are common in user profiles. That dissatisfaction is reflected in Grindr's 2.5-star rating on the Apple App store. Chappy claims to be different. Launched this year in London, and funded by Bumble, Chappy lets users toggle between categories called "Mr. Right" and "Mr. Right Now". Chappy isn't the only app trying to distance itself from the hookup culture. Hornet and Scruff are launching new features to introduce new ways to interact beyond hooking up, such as Facebook-style activity feed.

ECNS.CN - May 25 - Beijing based game developer Kunlun Tech already bought 61,53% stake in Grindr for $93M in January 2016. On Tuesday, the company announced that it will buy the remaining 38,74% stake for another $152M. That will make Kunlun Tech the sole owner of the dating app. Grindr currently has more than 27M members from 196 countries (30% of whom are in the US).

ADAGE - May 23 - Grindr has hired an editor-in-chief for its online magazine, Into, which launched as a vertical on its site in March. Zach Stafford will join the gay hookup app from Guardian U.S. and Out Magazine to lead a growing newsroom. Grindr is not the first startup to create a publication that focuses on the community it brought together. Tinder launched a podcast, Airbnb prints a magazine. Uber even published a magazine called Momentum, which was geared toward its drivers.

INSIDE INDONESIA - Apr 19 - Several dating apps, including Grindr, Blued and BoyAhoy, have been blocked in Indonesia. The Ministry of Information said these apps were being used by paedophiles to pimp teenage boys.

DAILYMAIL.CO.UK - Apr 15 - A Grindr user is suing the gay dating app after a former partner created a fake profile and invited people to his apartment who he claims tried to rape and kill him. He also stated that he has previously logged 50 complaints to Grindr about the fake accounts and filed 14 police reports, but nothing came of them.

BUENOS AIRES HERALD - Apr 8 - ~16M Argentines now own a smartphone. The most popular dating app in the country is Tinder. ~15M swipes are made per day in Argentina on the app. Another popular dating app is Happn with 1.4M users. Grindr is also used locally. While many users will still not admit to their relatives or friends that they met their partner through the dating app, it has become more customary to hear of a friend or relative explaining how they met their significant other through them.

TELEGRAPH.CO.UK - Apr 6 - Dating apps such as Tinder and Grindr should advertise handouts of free condoms to prevent a surge in sexually transmitted infections, under new NHS advice. ~435k sexually transmitted infections were diagnosed in England in 2015. Rates of syphilis and gonorrhoea have increased by 76% and 53% respectively between 2012 and 2015. Sexual health experts say the apps are driving a rise in casual sex, including unprotected sex.

FORBES - Mar 28 - Grindr celebrated its 8th birthday last weekend. Almost a decade and ~10M app users worldwide later, the company is eager to get rid of its "gay hookup app" image, and establish itself as a lifestyle brand instead. Grindr launches its online magazine title Into, today. It is headed by former Wonderland magazine Production Director, Oly Innes.

PINKNEWS - Mar 20 - 272k attempts to access Grindr had been made in a single month. The figures log all the websites visited by MPs, Lords and their staff, and guests to the parliamentary estate who have been given access to the Internet. Employees and visitors are banned from accessing websites such as Grindr, Tinder and other dating apps on the estate. There were also a thousand attempts to view Tinder, a fraction of the number made to Grindr.

BLOOMBERG BNA - Feb 28 - According to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Grindr is not responsible for warning users that they could get harassed by others on the dating app. According to the plaintiff, Matthew Herrick, who had been assaulted on Grindr, the app failed to warn users of the alleged dangers of the site, to screen users and to ban those who misuse it.

BUSTLE - Feb 28 - Technology company Quantcast looked at ~480k searches from January 6, 2017 - February 5, 2017 to see what apps people are searching for. Different states seem to go for different apps.

7PARK DATA BLOG - Feb 13 - 7Park Data decided to take a look at how people use dating apps around the world and how different apps compare to each other. Based on 7Park Data analysis of weekly active users (WAUs) and time spent in dating apps, Argentina is the most amorous country of them all. As far as the top dating apps globally, based on WAUs and time spent in app, Tinder and Grindr lead the pack. ~84% of Bumble and 41.5% of OkCupid users also use Tinder. Interestingly, only 12.6% of Tinder users try their luck on Bumble and 10.8% on OkCupid. You can download the full report here.

YAHOO! FINANCE - Feb 14 - According to a new study from research firm 7Park Data, Grindr users spend an average of 165 minutes, or 2.75 hours, a week inside the app, far surpassing Badoo and Tinder, with users on average spending 68 minutes and 55 minutes a week using those apps, respectively. Still, Tinder remains the overall winner when it comes to user base. Tinder had 50M users when the company last reported user base statistics back in 2014.